A collection of poignant, romantic and funny tales performed by Academy Award -winning actor William Hurt. This collection includes a bonus track of an exclusive interview with William Hurt. Hurt's readings are thoughtful, tender, romantic, and resonant. A treasure.

Stories in this set include:

Aleksandar Hemon's Blind Josef Pronek - A Bosnian man struggles to make a new life in America

Richard Ford's Communist - A teenage boy's relationship to his single mother and her new boyfriend against the background of the stark Montana landscape

Ron Carlson's Towel Season - A tender story of a scientist and his wife's rocky moments as he works on a tough math proof

Tobias Wolff's Nightingale - A bullying father suddenly has doubts on his drive with his stoic son to military school to toughen up the boy

Selected Shorts is an award-winning, one-hour program featuring readings of classic and new short fiction, recorded live at New York's Symphony Space. One of the most popular series on the airwaves, this unique show is hosted by Isaiah Sheffer and produced for radio by Symphony Space and WNYC Radio. Download and start listening now!

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Listener Opinions

Lauri | 8/20/2013

" Mixed bag of choices but William Hurt was a pleasure to listen to. "

Chet Makoski | 7/11/2013

" Wonderful reading of equally wonderful stories. "

Trisha Drape | 11/16/2012

" I highly recommend several of the Selected Shorts audio collections from Symphony Space. My daughter just bought a new one for me, "A Touch of Magic," which I can't wait to get to -- one of the shorts is Stephen Colbert reading Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt." "

Linda | 5/22/2011

" Affecting, well written stories; All about morality in some way.
"

Jeremy | 4/15/2011

" Awesome. This book has the greatest hits (minus a few I liked) from his previous three collections, and ten new stories written since the late 1990s, most of them originally appearing in The New Yorker. I'm just reading the new ones.
"

Ke | 4/11/2011

" The motif of dogs touched me. Mother seems to be an important part of his characters' lives. Issues with the lost father figure.

He doesn't seem to know how to write the voice of other ethnicities. Military stories. Iraq stories. The themes seem to be autobiographical.
"

Liz | 1/8/2011

" one of best short story writers of all time
"

Carmen | 12/16/2010

" Five Favorites1. In the Garden of North American Martyrs2. The Liar3. The Rich Brother4. Bullet in the Brain5. Nightingale
"

Anna | 11/8/2010

" Another collection I've read a handful of stories out of and plan to return to. He's so good. So. Damn. Good.
"

Erik | 8/30/2010

" I probably need to come back to this collection some day. Some of the stories were great. Most left me scratching my head. Wolff is an elusive writer--and, at this point, I'd say an overrated one--but I'm willing to admit that I just don't get it....
"

George | 5/1/2010

" a wonderful accessible voice across a wide range of characters and subjects.
"

Other Titles by Tobias Wolff:

About the Author

Tobias Wolff is the author of several previous books and the editor of a growing list of anthologies. He has received numerous awards, among them the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in the art of the short story. He lives in Northern California and teaches English and creative writing at Stanford University.

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